Her face was still veiny from apparating and she looked at both Giles and
me. "That's good, both of you in the same place, that should save us some
time."
Giles was looking at me with an expression I couldn't fathom. And I pride myself on fathoming expressions. What he did say was mundane, but welcome. "Lets all go back to the landrover. Samuel has a fire lit, and we can talk safely."
So we walked back to the vehicle. The moon had risen, but it was full and the humans, as well as myself and the demon, could all see clearly. The hyenas were cackling in the background. I could hear the sounds of a Bob Marley tape coming from the car radio, and could see the welcome glow of a fire with 4 camp stools around it. Somebody knew we'd be having company.
The Shamen comes up. Congratulates me. "A good solid A. It would have been an A+ but you missed the point of the lion hunt. Impatience is a fault of all sides of your being. But I think it's such a part of your personality we may need to do lots more work on that. But we have time in future I think. At the moment we have a guest."
Giles grabbed me by the scruff of my neck. "You knew! You knew she was a demon again."
I'm fed up of people doing that. "Well, it got a bit obvious. A couple of times actually."
"We copulated."
Why is there never a stake around when you want to fall on one? "We were both dumped, depressed, and completely and utterly hammered when it happened. Not that it wasn't very good of course."
"I had many orgasms. He is much bigger than Xander." Can you die of embarrassment? I think I might and Giles has steam coming out his ears. Steam, mm? Not blushing, steam.
"I should have known to stick to men not boys after our quickie under the counter, when we were engaged and amnesiac. It's just so much better, when they know what to do with it."
He let go of me. Explains a few things.
Great I shagged Step-Mum. My un-life as a Jerry Springer special continues apace. Not only am I in love with a girl still screwed-up by my own grand- sire, have a family more interbred than a hillbilly, said beloved walks in on me shagging Step-Mum, with Step-Mum's ex-git. "Giles?"
"We had amnesia! Decided to keep quiet about it so nobody got hurt. I was leaving, we were both horrified about betraying Xander, even if we were innocent of any intent to do so. It's why I couldn't bear to come to the wedding. I'm sorry about that Anya. I wish I had. Even if it hurt. Maybe I could have knocked some sense into the boy. Got him to behave like a man."
"Not holding my breath on that last point mate."
"Why didn't you tell me you changed back? Or come to talk to me about it first"
"I sent you an e-mail!"
"There's no phones for miles, let alone internet cafes! Why didn't you talk to me? I thought we trusted each other."
"We do. It was straight after the wedding and the only person I had to talk to was D'Hoffryn. So - Me."
"Spike?"
"Hey, back up. Doing the right thing there I was. Left the wedding before it all went to pot. Buffy was hurting seeing me there. So did the right thing. Sorry Anya. I would have stayed if I had known. Would have done me best. Didn't even know about it until much later. Nobody keeps me in the loop."
Watcher-boy visibly gets himself back together. Cleans his glasses. Rubs the bridge of his nose, and switches from soap opera character to watcher.
"Anya, not that I'm not delighted to see you. Though I would prefer you hadn't felt it necessary to return to being a vengeance demon. You made a wonderful human being. Why were you looking for Spike and myself?"
"It's Tara. She's dead. Warren shot her. Oh, and Buffy too - but she got better."
I thought that with all the crying I had done in the last hours I was all cried out. I was wrong. My eyes were already raw and gritty, but I filled up again. It hurt -on all levels.
"No! No. No. I never should have left."
"Told you that!"
"And as I told you I had to. If I hadn't we would all be on our way to joining poor Tara. Witches are in danger too. They aren't pure enough humans! Not for those bigots! Though I think those serving the conspirators' may survive, as little more than slaves."
"OK, you had to go. Get it. Take it they were who you were scrying on - not whatever crap was going down back home."
"Correct. We have time. They aren't ready to move yet. But not much time."
"Time to give Glinda her due though?"
"Of course. We all need to."
We sat around the fire, under the bright huge moon the good witch had loved so much.
"She, she was kind to me. That summer. She patched me up after the tower. She talked to me. Like a person.
"She was of all of us an innocent."
"Remember the prescription medication remark on that peppy vamp?"
"Doubt I'll ever forget, not with nearly being strangled at the time!"
"A laugh and deep fried peppy vamp - it was class! Remember bopping her on the nose, and she was sweet about it."
"It was to help her, but she was sweet. You missed the Grr Argg puppet she gave me when I left Sunnydale the first time. Adorable"
Anyanka joined in. "She was the only one of the girls that made the effort after Xander deserted me. She left messages on the Magic Box answer-phone wanting to know how I was - not asking me to listen to Him."
"Teased me with a twinkle in her eyes. Not drop of a sneer or malice."
"Treated me with some respect, and actually recognised I knew what I was talking about."
"The only one of my bridesmaids that actually helped me with my vows, not that it mattered in the end."
The Shaman handed all of us a beer from the cooler. Under a black velvet sky, the stars clear and bright, we raised our beers to "Tara". The 3 of us, the vengeance demon, the watcher and the vampire all came together in a tight hug. It was a silent one. It lasted a long time. It helped.
In silence the music segued from Exodus to the haunting refrain of Redemption Song.
Won't you help me sing, these songs of freedom: Is All I ever had, Redemption Songs, All I ever had, Redemption songs.
Anyanka broke the silence. "Willow has also gone mad with grief and black magic. She froze me in place, bitch! Stole from the Magic Box - AGAIN! Tortured and incinerated the nerd that killed Tara. D'Hoffryn was right to offer her a job though. She was very creative.
She almost killed people on a bus pursuing Warren. Dented Xander - and he's mine to deal with! - in chasing the other nerds. Buffy and Xander have taken the other two away from the police as they can't protect them from Willow. Buffy still thinks its wrong to kill humans, and as the other two haven't, she thinks she has to protect them. Pfft."
"She can't bring herself to hurt Red right?"
"No. I could, but none of them will make the wish needed. You could."
"But won't. No way, never again, it'd hurt Buffy too much. Not going there. But between us we should be able to knock some sense into Red."
"Won't work. She's lousy with black magic, won't let anyone close enough to talk, and won't even listen to her beloved best friend in all the world."
"Big gun's gone all screwy."
"Mmm. I wonder. Big Gun. Samuel would you?"
"Of course Rupert. But I can only leave the Valley now for up to 24 hours. The Mother likes to be close to home." The Shamen chimed in.
"Rupert?"
"Buffy once called Willow her big gun. Well the closest analogy for Samuel is a cruise missile. You know - the kind that turns right at traffic lights."
"Guess we better go and save the day then."
Giles was looking at me with an expression I couldn't fathom. And I pride myself on fathoming expressions. What he did say was mundane, but welcome. "Lets all go back to the landrover. Samuel has a fire lit, and we can talk safely."
So we walked back to the vehicle. The moon had risen, but it was full and the humans, as well as myself and the demon, could all see clearly. The hyenas were cackling in the background. I could hear the sounds of a Bob Marley tape coming from the car radio, and could see the welcome glow of a fire with 4 camp stools around it. Somebody knew we'd be having company.
The Shamen comes up. Congratulates me. "A good solid A. It would have been an A+ but you missed the point of the lion hunt. Impatience is a fault of all sides of your being. But I think it's such a part of your personality we may need to do lots more work on that. But we have time in future I think. At the moment we have a guest."
Giles grabbed me by the scruff of my neck. "You knew! You knew she was a demon again."
I'm fed up of people doing that. "Well, it got a bit obvious. A couple of times actually."
"We copulated."
Why is there never a stake around when you want to fall on one? "We were both dumped, depressed, and completely and utterly hammered when it happened. Not that it wasn't very good of course."
"I had many orgasms. He is much bigger than Xander." Can you die of embarrassment? I think I might and Giles has steam coming out his ears. Steam, mm? Not blushing, steam.
"I should have known to stick to men not boys after our quickie under the counter, when we were engaged and amnesiac. It's just so much better, when they know what to do with it."
He let go of me. Explains a few things.
Great I shagged Step-Mum. My un-life as a Jerry Springer special continues apace. Not only am I in love with a girl still screwed-up by my own grand- sire, have a family more interbred than a hillbilly, said beloved walks in on me shagging Step-Mum, with Step-Mum's ex-git. "Giles?"
"We had amnesia! Decided to keep quiet about it so nobody got hurt. I was leaving, we were both horrified about betraying Xander, even if we were innocent of any intent to do so. It's why I couldn't bear to come to the wedding. I'm sorry about that Anya. I wish I had. Even if it hurt. Maybe I could have knocked some sense into the boy. Got him to behave like a man."
"Not holding my breath on that last point mate."
"Why didn't you tell me you changed back? Or come to talk to me about it first"
"I sent you an e-mail!"
"There's no phones for miles, let alone internet cafes! Why didn't you talk to me? I thought we trusted each other."
"We do. It was straight after the wedding and the only person I had to talk to was D'Hoffryn. So - Me."
"Spike?"
"Hey, back up. Doing the right thing there I was. Left the wedding before it all went to pot. Buffy was hurting seeing me there. So did the right thing. Sorry Anya. I would have stayed if I had known. Would have done me best. Didn't even know about it until much later. Nobody keeps me in the loop."
Watcher-boy visibly gets himself back together. Cleans his glasses. Rubs the bridge of his nose, and switches from soap opera character to watcher.
"Anya, not that I'm not delighted to see you. Though I would prefer you hadn't felt it necessary to return to being a vengeance demon. You made a wonderful human being. Why were you looking for Spike and myself?"
"It's Tara. She's dead. Warren shot her. Oh, and Buffy too - but she got better."
I thought that with all the crying I had done in the last hours I was all cried out. I was wrong. My eyes were already raw and gritty, but I filled up again. It hurt -on all levels.
"No! No. No. I never should have left."
"Told you that!"
"And as I told you I had to. If I hadn't we would all be on our way to joining poor Tara. Witches are in danger too. They aren't pure enough humans! Not for those bigots! Though I think those serving the conspirators' may survive, as little more than slaves."
"OK, you had to go. Get it. Take it they were who you were scrying on - not whatever crap was going down back home."
"Correct. We have time. They aren't ready to move yet. But not much time."
"Time to give Glinda her due though?"
"Of course. We all need to."
We sat around the fire, under the bright huge moon the good witch had loved so much.
"She, she was kind to me. That summer. She patched me up after the tower. She talked to me. Like a person.
"She was of all of us an innocent."
"Remember the prescription medication remark on that peppy vamp?"
"Doubt I'll ever forget, not with nearly being strangled at the time!"
"A laugh and deep fried peppy vamp - it was class! Remember bopping her on the nose, and she was sweet about it."
"It was to help her, but she was sweet. You missed the Grr Argg puppet she gave me when I left Sunnydale the first time. Adorable"
Anyanka joined in. "She was the only one of the girls that made the effort after Xander deserted me. She left messages on the Magic Box answer-phone wanting to know how I was - not asking me to listen to Him."
"Teased me with a twinkle in her eyes. Not drop of a sneer or malice."
"Treated me with some respect, and actually recognised I knew what I was talking about."
"The only one of my bridesmaids that actually helped me with my vows, not that it mattered in the end."
The Shaman handed all of us a beer from the cooler. Under a black velvet sky, the stars clear and bright, we raised our beers to "Tara". The 3 of us, the vengeance demon, the watcher and the vampire all came together in a tight hug. It was a silent one. It lasted a long time. It helped.
In silence the music segued from Exodus to the haunting refrain of Redemption Song.
Won't you help me sing, these songs of freedom: Is All I ever had, Redemption Songs, All I ever had, Redemption songs.
Anyanka broke the silence. "Willow has also gone mad with grief and black magic. She froze me in place, bitch! Stole from the Magic Box - AGAIN! Tortured and incinerated the nerd that killed Tara. D'Hoffryn was right to offer her a job though. She was very creative.
She almost killed people on a bus pursuing Warren. Dented Xander - and he's mine to deal with! - in chasing the other nerds. Buffy and Xander have taken the other two away from the police as they can't protect them from Willow. Buffy still thinks its wrong to kill humans, and as the other two haven't, she thinks she has to protect them. Pfft."
"She can't bring herself to hurt Red right?"
"No. I could, but none of them will make the wish needed. You could."
"But won't. No way, never again, it'd hurt Buffy too much. Not going there. But between us we should be able to knock some sense into Red."
"Won't work. She's lousy with black magic, won't let anyone close enough to talk, and won't even listen to her beloved best friend in all the world."
"Big gun's gone all screwy."
"Mmm. I wonder. Big Gun. Samuel would you?"
"Of course Rupert. But I can only leave the Valley now for up to 24 hours. The Mother likes to be close to home." The Shamen chimed in.
"Rupert?"
"Buffy once called Willow her big gun. Well the closest analogy for Samuel is a cruise missile. You know - the kind that turns right at traffic lights."
"Guess we better go and save the day then."
